


roadhouse blues

by thingbe



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Post-Star Trek: Into Darkness, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-20
Updated: 2013-10-20
Packaged: 2017-12-29 22:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1010981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thingbe/pseuds/thingbe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim and Leonard go on a road trip and find some stable ground.</p>
            </blockquote>





	roadhouse blues

**Author's Note:**

> As always, huge thanks to rainbowcasoup for betaing and generally being amazing. Title taken from the song of the same name by The Doors.

There’s nothing but road behind and road ahead, and if Leonard isn’t careful it’ll hypnotise him, the headlights and highway pulling him into a trance and from there it’s just a matter of time before he ends up wrapping the car around a goddamned tree.

Jim’s asleep in the passenger seat beside him, of course. The lazy bastard was supposed to take over two hours ago but something about seeing his face smushed against the window had made a piece of Leonard’s heart melt. Maybe it wouldn’t be fair after all, he’d thought, looking at the bags under the kid’s eyes and recalling in too vivid detail how hard Jim had been pushing himself.

Leaving his – well, leaving Jim to sleep had seemed like an alright idea two hours ago with caffeine still coursing through his veins, but as his blinks grow longer Leonard decides that maybe it’s time to stop for the night.

He takes the next exit with a motel, leaving the empty highway behind, if only for a few hours.

 

\---

 

When Jim wakes up, it isn’t to take over driving like he’d been expecting – instead the first thing he sees is the tacky sign to what he estimates is the most hole-in-the-wall motel in the entire state. The second thing he sees is, upon turning his head, an exhausted zombie who appears to have replaced Bones.

He yawns, then asks, “Hey, have you seen my CMO? Grumpy guy, constantly swearing at me, affinity for hypos?”

Bones turns to him then, opening his eyes, and only gives Jim a mildly irritated look before saying, “Grab your bag, we’re stopping for the night.”

Jim nods, gets out of the car and stretches, breathing in the warm night air. He can hear crickets somewhere behind the sounds of the highway. As Bones makes his way to what must be the office, Jim grabs their bags from the back seats. Bones comes back in a minute with the key – an actual old-fashioned metal key, how safe – and silently leads the way to their room.

It should be strange, the quiet between them; he should be feeling the need to fill it with mindless jabber, but all he feels right now is the overwhelming need to sleep.

Once they’re inside they don’t bother with pyjamas, simply stripping down to nothing and crawling under the sheets together. They fall asleep wrapped around each other, and it’s the most peaceful Jim’s felt in a long time.

 

\---

 

They don’t wake up until the next afternoon. Leonard wakes first and flicks through the news on a PADD with Jim drooling all over his leg until he's awake with a muffled groan, and then there’s soft kisses on his thigh, a wandering hand and Jim making a small unhappy noise.

“You put on underwear.”

Leonard scoffs and moves one hand to run his fingers through Jim’s hair, the other still holding the PADD. Jim tucks his hand around Leonard’s inner thigh and hums, closing his eyes as Leonard lightly scratches circles into his scalp. They spend a few moments like this, enjoying the quiet that’s been so scarce. Leonard almost thinks Jim’s fallen back asleep until the hand on his thigh is massaging its way upwards. He looks down and his eyes meet electric blue. There’s already a smirk playing at Jim’s lips and Leonard rolls his eyes.

He puts the PADD on the side table as Jim’s fingers skirt over the thin fabric of his boxers. He shifts, moving down so he’s on his back with Jim pressed against his side.

“So,” Leonard starts, “I guess we’re not getting back on the road today.”

Jim chuckles and moves to press their foreheads together. “Shut up and take these off already,” he says, fingering the waistband of Leonard’s boxers.

Leonard grumbles but tilts his head to join their lips in a kiss.

 

\---

 

They end up staying at the motel for the rest of the next day, too, only leaving their room to go to the diner across the street where Jim flirts with the waitstaff and even signs a couple of autographs, and the most pleasing part of both is the way Bones grumbles about them. Jim could swear he catches something about “goddamn groupies” but he lets it slide with a grin.

When they’re not at the diner for Bones’ strictly enforced At Least Two Meals A Day, they’re fucking or sleeping or on their PADDs; Jim glances over the news and checks in with Scotty on how the repairs are going, tries to ignore everything else because the end of the world can’t happen again this soon so whatever the Admiralty has to say to him, it can wait.

These two days off the road have been good for Bones - the bags under his eyes are shrinking from being suitable for trench warfare to nothing a cup of coffee or two can’t fix, and the set of his shoulders has relaxed enough that he doesn’t look like he’s going to snap in two at any moment. Jim notices the way Bones still flinches every time he so much as stumbles on the sidewalk, but he doesn’t bring it up. They don’t talk much at all, really, not with words - when it's just the two of them, in that creaky old motel bed, Bones sweeps promises over Jim’s hips with his hands, holds him steady with it, while Jim responds with sighing thanks and kissing apologies into his collarbone.

In the middle of the second night, when Jim has his head resting on Bones' chest, listening faintly to how his heart times with the slow rumbles of thunder outside, they whisper "I love you" and the words carry them into a deep, dreamless sleep.

 

\---

 

Seeing Jim behind the wheel is something of a comfort (that is, when he isn't driving _too damn fast_ ). He eases into driving like it's second nature, as opposed to the stiff-backed caution Leonard employs. Bit by bit, Jim's smile is coming easier, still rough around the edges and jagged in a way it’s always been, but it’s enough that Leonard can let himself feel a little less worried.

For a long while, he turns his attention to the road ahead - watches the trees and fields speed by on either side, looks up at the sky and then thinks better of it when all that does is remind him of space. The road signs flit by and he really must not have been paying attention because he doesn’t recognise the names of any of the cities they’re passing. It doesn’t really matter as long as they’re moving, going _somewhere_ , getting away from all the demands that surround them in San Francisco.

He isn’t keeping track of time but it’s a while - judging roughly from the sun, a few hours - before Jim pulls onto an exit advertising a scenic outlook. Leonard grumbles a bit about it being a damned waste of time but Jim just chuckles low, throws him a sidelong smile and asks “Where’ve we got to be, Bones?”

They park in a small, empty lot. Leonard heaves a long-suffering sigh, but - and not that he’ll admit it - it’s mostly for show. Well, that, and for the smile it draws from Jim. They get out of the car and Leonard takes the time to stretch, closing his eyes and relishing it. When he opens them, Jim’s standing there with a smirk across his face. Leonard rolls his eyes and walks in the direction of a gravel path; he doesn’t wait to see if Jim catches up, but it isn’t long before there’s a steady presence at his side.

The path leads into the forest and lasts them for about five minutes, slowly winding through the trees and moving steadily uphill. It takes them a few minutes to climb - they shortly reach the end, though, and when they do Leonard can feel the breath hitch in his throat.

It's just a cliff, he tells himself. It's just a cliff, a small ledge hanging over a lake; and it really shouldn't get to him the way it does, but it _does_ , and he walks slowly to the guard rail so as to take it all in. He puts his hands down on it and Jim follows suit, standing close enough that their hands touch on the metal but far enough that he feels a world away.

And the view over the lake is spectacular - the clouds above give a stutter to the sunlight, cast their shadows on the water while the breeze moves them along. It ruffles their hair and the leaves on trees surrounding the rocky beach and on the path behind them. The sound is a musical whisper that carries on the wind and the word that leaps to Leonard’s mind is _serene_.

He turns away from the view to look at Jim - he takes in how the sunlight shines through his hair and in his eyes, the way he looks softer now than he has in a long, long time.

_Yeah_ , Leonard thinks, _I can work with this_.


End file.
